UK weather: Thunderstorms to bring Britain’s 25C heatwave to an abrupt end (and temperatures are going to drop again)

Thunder and lightning are forecast to end Britain’s mini heatwave towards the end of this week with temperatures dropping to 16C by Wednesday.

Sunseekers struggled to find a spot on Britain’s beaches today as the country basked in the hottest weather of the year so far.

Visitors arrived in droves to soak up the rays as temperatures reached 25C (77F) – hotter than Rome, Athens or Majorca. About 150,000 seaside visitors headed to Brighton at the weekend, filling nearly all its hotels to capacity and causing gridlock on roads to the resort.

But scattered showers and thunderstorms are to sweep across the north later today, with a likelihood of reaching the south by the end of the week.

Severe rain warnings have been issued for Strathclyde tonight, and tomorrow for Dumfries and Galloway, Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire. Rain is also forecast in Northern Ireland this evening and overnight.

Helen Roberts, a Met Office forecaster, said: ‘We expect to see highs of around 24C (75.2F) again tomorrow in the south-east but temperatures will start to fall elsewhere.

‘By Wednesday temperatures will likely be in the high teens rather than the low 20s and then go back to averages for this time of year of around 16C (60.8F).’

Just chilling: People relax on Brighton Pier (Picture: McCrickard)

Almost all of the town’s 3,000 deckchairs were checked out and 200 hotels reached capacity.

However, those hoping to find a sandy spot at Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset were not quite so lucky. Tourism bosses welcomed the arrival of the sunshine. VisitEngland’s Sarah Long said: ‘After severe weather and flooding earlier in the year, we had a positive Easter and this was another good boost.’

Meanwhile, Ladbrokes is offering odds of 8/1 on May becoming the hottest on record.